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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, an 83-acre, park-like complex in Livingston, is a center of culture in the borough.

Nationally landmarked buildings on the grounds house the Newhouse Gallery, the Staten Island Children’s Museum and the Staten Island Botanical Garden, as well as artists’ studios, the Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island (COASHI) and other not-for-profits.

The Noble Maritime Collection, once headquartered in the late artist John A. Noble’s New Brighton home, is also housed in a historic building here, with a permanent collection featuring paintings, photographs and lithographs by Noble, a noted marine artist.

The Staten Island Museum, with headquarters currently located in St. George, will move into its new home, in Building A, later this year.

The museum's history archives (where the public may access documents covering four centuries of local history) library and administration moved to the Harbor years ago. The 133-year-old museum launched the construction of its new, $27 million facility to be located at Snug Harbor three years ago. Previews will get under way this spring. Designed by Gluckman Mayner Architects, it will provide 18,000 square feet of usable space, including an auditorium/performance venue.

The greenhouse of the Staten Island Botanical Garden is surrounded by plantings and the lush landscape of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center.

The quietest attractions in the cultural complex are the botanical gardens.

Since the site opened in 1977, more than 20 formal gardens have been developed. The newest is a Tuscan Garden, modeled after the Villa Gamberaia, outside Florence.

The one-acre New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden — a replica of a 15th-century Ming Dynasty walled garden with roses, banana plants, chrysanthemums and magnolias, open-air courtyards between pavilions and ponds with lotus, water lilies and swimming carp. It was constructed by craftsmen in Suzhou, China, then shipped here in containers, where 40 artists and artisans assembled it over a period of six months.

Traditions like the Autumn Moon Festival and the Chinese New Year are celebrated annually in this setting.

The garden offers educational programs for children and adults, including tours and planting courses. Admission and parking for the grounds of the botanical gardens are free seven days a week from dawn to dusk.

Admission to the Chinese garden includes admission to the Secret Garden and is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors 65 and over. and students ages 6 to 17. It is free for members, children under 5, and active military members (Blue Star Program).

The statue of Sailors Snug Harbor founder Robert Richard Randall overlooks the grounds of the cultural center.Originally called Sailors' Snug Harbor, the nationally landmarked site was founded nearly 200 years ago as a haven for "aged, decrepit and worn-out sailors."

The community was self-sufficient and provided a free home to retired and disabled mariners, thanks to Captain Robert Richard Randall – a ship owner, merchant and privateer – whose extensive real estate in downtown Manhattan underwrote the complex for 144 years.

In 1972, Snug Harbor was purchased by the city of New York, which has restored and developed many of the 28 historic buildings as a cultural center in a city park.

As one of the largest ongoing adaptive-reuse projects in the country, the Harbor preserves a unique architectural timeline.

The Richmond Terrace-facing suite of buildings is considered a paragon of Greek Revival architecture.

At its center, the Main Hall, opened in 1833, was the first landmarked structure in the nation. Inside there are stenciled ceilings, period stained glass and meticulous Eastlake woodwork, wall panels and molding.

A graceful 19th-century chapel, now called Veterans Memorial Hall, is a multi-purpose performance, sidelined currently following a sprinkler-system malfunction.

The Music Hall, a 650-seat concert hall, opened in 1892. It is one of the oldest intact performance spaces in the city. The Harbor Lights Theater Company, a professional ensemble, is based at Snug Harbor.

Other notable buildings include the Great Hall, which has Palladian-inspired windows, elaborate wood and plaster detailing. Enclosing the complex is a wrought-iron fence, also a signature construction landmarked by the city.

Snug Harbor's grounds are open from dawn to dusk daily, admission free (and closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day). With the merger of Snug Harbor Cultural Center and the Staten Island Botanical Garden, a single membership can provide access and discounts for programs sitewide.

The Noble Collection, located on the grounds of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, is devoted to the works of Staten Island artist John Noble, who celebrated the working waterfront.

The Noble Maritime Collection has permanent exhibits that illuminate the marine history of the metropolitan area and the Harbor's role in the saga.

They include its namesake's houseboat studio, his work space, restored to its shipshape, 1954 condition. Visitors also can see a recreated writing room and a typical resident's dormitory room (circa 1900).

Although the museum enjoys contemporary conveniences, like an elevator, many original features, like the painted ceiling in the writing room, are preserved.

The in-house education department offers writing classes for adults, history sessions for children, camps, tours and various art-making classes.

A choral group intended for people who sing (as well as those who think they don't), called A Helluva Choir, meets most Thursday afternoons, and sings from a big songbook.

The Noble Maritime Collection is the only museum on the Island that features audio guides for self-guided tours and in-depth descriptions of subjects and objects in the museum's collection, including Noble's own narration of the genesis of his houseboat studio.

The museum is open Thursday to Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. It's closed on New Year's Day, Easter, July 4, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Admission is by donation and is free on Sundays.